‘Cowardly’ Christmas Day hit-and-run driver who left mum for dead jailed

A “grotesquely selfish” motorist who crashed and killed a mother-of-two before driving off and dumping the car has been jailed. Arnold Malaolu, 25, smashed into Sharon Hamnett as she crossed the road at a pedestrian crossing and instead of getting out to help, he sped off and abandoned his car at an industrial estate in Cheetham Hill, Manchester. Malaolu fled to Coventry and then on to Dublin using someone else’s passport. Miss Hamnett was crossing the road just before 9pm on December 25 2017 when she was hit. A taxi driver saw her on the floor and got out to help, but it was too late. She was rushed to hospital and but died at 9.45pm. Malaolu was eventually caught nine months later after he boarded a flight to Edinburgh and was arrested and brought back to Manchester to face his crimes. He pleaded guilty to counts of causing death by driving while uninsured, failing to stop at the scene of a crash, and possessing an identity document with improper intent, Manchester Evening News reports. After dumping the car, Malaolu then returned to it to get some luggage from the boot. He then walked back to the apartment where he had been staying, taking care to avoid the police who were now investigating at the scene. On Boxing Day, police found the abandoned car and realised its link to Ms Hamnett’s death. The following day, Malaolu got a taxi to a house in Oldham. After no-one answered the door, he… [Read full story]